NBC's Emmycast logs robust 15.6 million viewership

Bryan Cranston kisses Julia Louis-Dreyfus, center front, as she accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her work on Veep at the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP)  NBC says the Emmys thrived despite a Monday airing in the dog days of August.

Broadcast on a nontraditional night prior to Labor Day, the television awards show nonetheless logged 15.6 million viewers. It was the second biggest audience for an Emmy Awards broadcast in eight years, NBC said Tuesday.

The viewership was exceeded only by last year's airing by CBS, when it drew 17.8 million viewers on a Sunday in September, with an NFL game as lead-in.

The 15.6-million audience makes this the most-watched night on any network since ABC's Academy Awards on March 2, when 35.2 million viewers were tuned in.

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The Emmycast, which aired from Los Angeles live across all time zones, was hosted by Seth Meyers.